The Flirt
by Jenna D
Summary: When a girl pilot shows up with her own Gundam, a diverse personality and a healthy dose of charm, what's a pilot to do? How does she know Trowa, and what does this have to do with his recent kidnapping? Who's the weirdo out to get them? Read on and find
1. The Girl

**A/N: This is my first attempt at a Gundam Wing fanfic, so bear with me! And I don't own anything... although I wish I had Quatre... hehe.**

~*~**~*~ 

The Flirt 

The five Gundam pilots sat in the meeting room with a heavy silence around them. They'd been called together to meet someone; someone Relena said might have a drastic effect on the war. A positive effect on the part of the Gundams and their allies. 

Heero sighed for the millionth time that afternoon. _If this was so urgent, where the hell is she?_ he thought irritatedly. _Another ten minutes, then I'm leaving._

Across the table, Duo smirked at the solemn faces of the other pilots. He leaned back in his chair, and rested his feet on the round table in a relaxed manner. _They should be in a museum, they're so stiff,_ he joked with himself. 

Trowa was also thinking. His sad green eyes, hidden behind his brown hair registered a look of thoughtfulness. _Why does this all seem like a bad thing to me?_ he thought. Trowa glanced over to where Heero was nearly falling asleep, wondering what his comrade was thinking. 

Quatre was using the time to ponder over the past events. After the destruction of yet another colony, this particular one being a key component in the ongoing war, there was a raincloud of hopelessness over a lot of people's heads. _I wish this would end soon_, he thought. _I'm tired of it._ Whether he was referring to the war or the long period of waiting, we don't know. 

What we do know is that Wufei was most definitely referring to Relena as he cursed repeatedly in his head. 

Duo snapped to attention minutes later -- nearly falling off his chair in the process -- when Relena entered the room. "Good afternoon," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I kept you so long." 

"So who's this you want us to meet?" Quatre asked. 

Relena smiled, and opened the door again. "Come in," was heard. The pilots looked at each other, the same looks of interest mixed with suspiscion on their faces. The person stepped into the room, in pilot getup, complete with helmet. "Boys, I'd like you to meet-" As if on cue, the pilot removed the helmet, revealing... 

"-Harriet Dawson." 

This time Duo _did_ fall off his chair. "Who?" 

The pilot pulled long, light brown hair out from the back of her neck. "Harriet Dawson," she said, in a voice that was strong yet gentle. She had laughing hazel eyes that smiled along with her mouth. She looked the braided pilot straight into his cobalt blue eyes. "Duo Maxwell, I'm assuming? Relena has told me about all five of you." 

All of them were silent. This girl was to join them? A female in battle wasn't uncommon, and not many had ever done anything spectacular. Harriet laughed a little as she took a spot at the table, next to Quatre. "You are allowed speak to me, you know," she said. "I'd actually prefer conversation, unless you're all mute." 

Quatre kicked himself for being rude and introduced himself. "Quatre Rebarba Winner," he said. The other pilots followed suit. 

"So what are your qualifications?" Heero asked. 

Harriet went into a long story about how she'd been fighting by herself ever since she'd first heard of the Gundams. "I managed to create my own suit just by studying pictures and descriptions of the suits that are out there all ready. Actually, Duo, most of my inspiration came from Deathscythe." 

Duo grinned as Harriet continued. 

"Anyway, I'm actually quite anxious to get to know all of you. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks," she said, smiling charismatically. 

Relena was pleased with how Harriet was fitting in. She noticed hesitation from Heero, which was expected, but the atmosphere around Wufei was almost hostile. Relena frowned. The leer on Wufei's face did not go unnoticed by Harriet, but she ignored it and Relena decided if anyone could withstand the pilot's arrogance, it was Harriet. 

Later, the meeting was dismissed and Harriet retreated to her quarters. 

~*~**~*~ 

The next afternoon, Harriet introduced Duo to her suit. 

"I call it RipRock," she said. "Whaddya think?" 

RipRock stood at least two feet higher than most Gundams. Its heavy metal arms hung down beside it, one of them grasping a short silver staff. 

Duo stared up at it and blinked his blue eyes several times. "Inspired by... Deathscythe?" 

"Yep. Well?" 

"It's... woah." 

"Go ahead, get in." Harriet pointed to the cockpit. 

"You serious?" Duo asked. 

"Yeah," she said. "Fly it. Lemme see how you can handle it." 

Duo looked at Harriet, to RipRock and then back at Harriet. "I can handle it." He ran to RipRock and climbed in, settling down into the seat of the cockpit. The controls were sleek and organized, and it was obvious the great care Harriet took in RipRock's upkeep. 

Harriet's face appeared on a monitor. "How do you like it so far?" 

Duo grasped the controls and grinned. "A guy like me could have a _lot_ of fun in this thing," he said. 

"If what I know about your idea of fun is true, the entire universe is in big trouble," Harriet laughed. 

Duo started up RipRock and began testing out the various functions. Harriet instructed him to hit the large blue button on the left side. With glee, Duo hit it. The small staff that RipRock held suddenly extended to a full length and sparkled when light hit it. "And I'm supposed to use this?" 

"Yes. Much like a scythe, just swing it at the enemy and watch their heads fall off," Harriet explained. "Except there's a lot more fragments. Whatever you hit literally shatters to a billion pieces." 

"This is starting to make me extremely happy!" 

"Do your thing Maxwell," Harriet said, her face leaving the monitor. 

The manic look crossed Duo's face again as he flew off, searching for some fun. 

~*~**~*~ 

"I never thought you could be _that_ destructive!" 

"Underestimating me? That's a mistake." 

"Well..." 

"Admit it, Duo," Harriet said. "You think I'm as good as you, if not better." 

"Almost would be a better term," Duo corrected. "Nobody's better than the Great Destroyer." 

Quatre raised his eyebrow at the pair. "What havoc have you two been wreaking?" he asked. 

Duo and Harriet got the innocent look and chorused, "Nothing." 

"Right." Quatre smiled. "Duo, they want to see you downstairs." 

The Great Destroyer disappeared down a hall with a carefree wave. "See ya later Harriet!" 

Harriet smiled after him and then turned to Quatre. "So, Quatre. What's up with the Winner?" 

Quatre tried not to blush. "Not much. I take it you and Duo had fun?" 

"Yeah, I showed him RipRock," Harriet told him, guesturing towards the suit. 

"You seem to be a lot like Duo," Quatre said off-handedly. 

"I can be," she said, walking down another hall, "but sometimes I like to stay quiet and sit down with a nice cup of tea." 

"Me too!" Quatre said in surprise, following along beside her. 

"In fact, I usually go for one right now..." Harriet got a faraway look in her eyes. 

Quatre was quiet. Here was someone who could fly loose like Duo, yet sat down every day for tea? "Hey, um, why don't you come with me?" he asked nervously. "We can have tea together." 

A big grin crossed Harriet's face. "I would love that!" 

Relief washed over Quatre and he smiled. "Great, then come on." 

~*~**~*~ 

Heero ran into Lucreiza Noin later that afternoon. 

"Hello, Heero," she said cheerfully. "How are you?" 

"Fine," he answered bluntly. 

"You've met Harriet, I'm assuming?" Noin asked. Heero nodded. "And...?" 

"She's fitting in well," Heero said. "I don't think I'll have to kill her anytime soon." 

Noin gave Heero an "uh-huh, sure" look before continuing to wherever she was going. Heero walked around aimlessly before doing a double-take as he passed a room. 

There was the distinct sound of Quatre's laughter and also a female voice eminating from the room. Heero looked in the doorway carefully, so as not to be seen, and discovered _Harriet_, of all the people he could have suspected, with Quatre, having tea. _What the..._ Heero thought. _It's like everything's changed with that girl around! I'm tempted to say she's worse than Relena!_ Heero sighed, rolled his eyes and meandered downstairs. He found Duo, who looked positively giddy. 

"Heya Heero!" 

"Why are you so happy?" Heero asked. 

"Harriet let me fly her mobile suit," Duo grinned. "She calls it RipRock, and man, is it _sweet_! You would not believe what this thing can do, Heero..." 

Heero started to zone out as Duo rambled on about RipRock's various functions and weapons, and a terrifying thought went through his head. _No way..._ Heero's eyes went wide as he considered the outcome of this theory. 

"Hey, what's _that_ look for?" Duo asked, questioning Heero's expression. 

A large sweatdrop appeared over Heero's head. "Um... Nothing. I gotta... go... and... uh... polish Zero," Heero stammered, running off in the complete opposite direction of his Gundam. 

Duo blinked several times before shrugging off the incident. Trowa approached him quietly. 

"Where's he off to in such a hurry?" Trowa asked. 

"He says he's going to polish Zero," Duo replied. 

"Isn't Zero over that way?" Trowa pointed to the proper direction. 

"Yes." 

"Heero's been acting really weird lately," Trowa commented. 

"Whaddya mean _lately_?" Duo exclaimed. 

"I mean since Harriet showed up. He's been more... reclusive than usual," explained Trowa. "Think she's got something to do with it?" 

"Maybe," Duo said. "One thing's for sure, Harriet's got a strange atmosphere around her." 

~*~**~*~ 

Heero knew he was going the wrong way, he just had to get away from anyone who'd had contact with Harriet, or else he'd... 

"AAAAAAHHHH!" 

"Heero, watch where you're going!" Wufei exclaimed. 

Heero picked himself up off the ground, a wild look in his eyes. "Wufei, have you seen Harriet _at all_ today?" he asked frantically. 

"No," Wufei snorted. "I've actually been trying to avoid her." 

"Good. Don't talk to her, and don't let her try anything!" Heero said, careening down the hallway. 

Wufei shook his head and muttered something to the effect that Heero needed his brain examined. He later met up with Trowa and Duo. 

"Have you noticed Heero's behavior today?" he asked. 

"Yes," Duo answered. "Who hasn't?" 

"I'm finding it rather odd, even for Heero," Wufei commented. 

"Maybe he knows something we don't," Trowa suggested. 

~*~**~*~ 

Heero stopped and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. _I think I'm safe..._ he thought. _I think I need to sleep..._ He trudged off towards his room, but halfway there, he ran into his worst nightmare. 

"AAK!!" Heero tried to run for it, but Harriet grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back. 

"In a bit of a hurry, aren'tcha?" she asked. 

"Um... err..." 

"What's wrong Heero? It's not like I'm going to _kill_ you," Harriet laughed. 

The word stuck out in Heero's mind like a sore thumb, and his eyes went wide. Then he stiffened his expression and said, "I know why you're here." 

"Of course you do. Like Relena told you, I'm fighting with you guys," Harriet said with a touch of sarcasm. 

"I know the _real_ reason," Heero declared. "I've suspected it for a long time." 

"Long time, huh? And I haven't even been here a week," Harriet sniffed. "I've been having suspicions about you too." 

"What would they be?" 

"Tell me what you think first." 

"No, you go." 

"Same time then. On three. One... Two... Three..." 

"You work for OZ!" they both shouted at the same time, pulling guns out and pointing them directly at each other. "What? No way!" 

"Where would you get _that_ idea?" Heero asked. 

"I'm wondering the same thing," Harriet said, a glare on her face. "I don't work for OZ, I never will work for OZ, and I try not to even _think__ about OZ if I can help it." _

"I don't work for them either. I don't work for anyone," Heero grumbled. 

"Neither do I. Hey, we've got something in common. Who woulda thought?" 

"Don't go all cheery on me now," Heero said, not joking. 

~*~**~*~ 

**So? What do you think? I'm still working on this, whether people like it or not... R&R please!**


	2. Remembering Trowa

The Flirt Chapter Two 

Harriet had spent the past few days not doing anything but wandering around. Nowhere particular, just... around, to see what there was to see. After the confrontation with Heero, she'd been feeling kind of depressed. She _knew_ Heero hated her now. Harriet had suspected it from day one, and the entire thing really ticked her off in a way. All she really wanted was to get to know these guys better -- it wasn't like she was going to use the stuff she learned against them. Her afternoon with Quatre had been great. They talked about everything and anything and laughed a lot. Duo seemed to like her as well... at least she had _some_ friends. 

As far as she knew, Harriet had been born and raised in a small town in southern Ontario, Canada. All her memories were from there. She had family there, but after her decision to try and construct a Gundam was brought up they lost contact. Her father had kicked her out of his house and given her whatever money he'd been saving for her future -- he'd been hoping she'd go to college, not decide she wanted to be a pilot. Harriet had taken the money, invested it wisely and watched it double, then triple. She drew up plans, looked at photographs of Wing Zero, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Shenlong as well as notes on them, and devised her own plans for her very own Gundam suit. She took up residence in a derelict apartment in a dirty part of town, and used her money to find herself a place large enough to work on her suit -- an abandoned airplane hangar. Her prototype had failed miserably, and she referred back to the Gundams to make modifications. Deathscythe stuck out considerably in her mind, and after neatly mimicking some aspects of it, the second prototype succeeded. The next few months was devoted to creating the actual suit, which she dubbed RipRock. Harriet left the apartment, took her money and left in RipRock, not knowing her destination. She wrote home when she landed at a colony, but no response. 

Sometime during AC 195, Harriet literally ran into Relena Peacecraft. They met on a slippery sidewalk in the middle of a crowded town square. She felt awkward around Relena, but they soon got to know each other, yet Harriet remained wary. Relena was amazed that Harriet had made RipRock herself, and later asked if she would like to meet the Gundam pilots. Harriet was ecstatic, jumped at the chance, and found herself in the meeting room two weeks later. Again Harriet wrote home, and got a reply from her mother, who was glad she'd found something to do "out there in space." 

One of Harriet's more recent treks led her to her mail. She never expected any letters, but today she found three. _Strange... Who'd be writing to me?_ She took the letters and found a sunny spot outside to read them. The first was from her mother. 

> Dear Harriet, 
> 
> How have you been settling in? Well, I pray. Your brother had disappeared for a week, but he is back safe and sound. I want you to tell me about those boys they call the Gundam pilots and everything you do that's of relative importance. I know how you teenagers feel about telling stuff to your parents. 
> 
> I hope your health is good. I haven't been feeling well lately, but I'm getting better. 
> 
> Love,   
Mother. 

Harriet sighed and put the letter from her mother aside. Always worrying, as usual. _That's probably why she's sick,_ Harriet thought. The next was from her father, another lecture... 

> ...and if you think that this will look good on a resumé, you've got another think coming missy... what kind of girl takes the college money and builds something completely useless out of it?... I tell you Harriet, you're not going to amount to anything with that piece of junk... 

As she crumpled up the letter in rage, Harriet's mind filled with fury. _Piece of junk? JUNK? RipRock is not JUNK! Does he have any comprehension of how hard it is to get Gundanium alloy these days? Or how expensive it is? If there's anything that's a piece of junk, it's his brain!_ Sighing, she turned to the third letter. 

This one nearly scared her. In the middle of the page of plain lined paper, in letters cut out from a magazine, was one message: 

STAY AWAY FROM TROWA. 

Harriet dropped the paper. "Stay away from Trowa?" she whispered. "But... I don't intend on hurting him or anything! I don't know much about him, although he does seem... familiar!" The last word was louder. Stuffing the papers into her pocket, Harriet dashed off to find Trowa Barton. 

"Trowa! Trowa, where are you?" Harriet called. She wasn't scared. Okay, so she was a _little_ scared. But more confused and angry. She remembered where she'd seen Trowa Barton now and thought that the note had something to do with that. 

Quatre heard Harriet's yelling and went to investigate. "Harriet? Harriet what's wrong?" he asked. 

Harriet turned back around and walked quickly to Quatre. "Have you seen Trowa?" 

"Not today," Quatre answered, a quizzical look on his face. "Why?" 

"I got this in the mail today," she said, showing Quatre the note. "And if whoever sent it to me thinks I'm going to listen-" 

"Maybe you should," Quatre interrupted. "Trowa's got a pretty vague past. I'd hate for this to be from someone out to kill both of you." 

Harriet made a face. "I've met him before." 

"Who? Trowa?" 

"Yes. I've met him before. I didn't remember it until I got this note, but we've met -- It wasn't a pleasant time either," Harriet explained. "I have to find out if he remembers too." 

"I doubt that," Quatre said. "Like I said, his past's sketchy." 

"Still..." Harriet trailed off, "I have to try." 

Quatre sighed and looked concerned, but he tried to hide it. "I'll tell Trowa you're looking for him if I see him," he said. 

Harriet leaned against the wall with a hand to her forehead. "I'd better keep looking. Talk to you later." She continued down the hall. 

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Quatre. 

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Harriet called back, not turning around. 

~*~**~*~ 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Looking." 

"For?" 

"Parts." Harriet wandered around the rows of metal in the desolate junkyard. 

"What are you making?" A guy with mysterious eyes was following her suspiciously. 

Harriet turned around and gave the guy a hard look in the eye. He was about her age, slightly taller than her. "A mobile suit." 

"You?" He laughed a little. 

"Think that's funny, don't you?" Harriet retorted. "Well I am, and if you don't believe it... too bad." 

"Hey, I don't doubt you," the kid said, putting his hands up in defense. You just seem kinda young." 

"So do you," she replied. 

"Come on. There's some stuff over here." The kid showed her a deserted corner. "Not much, but it might give you a start." 

Harriet looked over the parts. "Got any... Gundanium alloy?" she asked sheepishly. 

The guy looked shocked. "You wanna make... a Gundam?" 

"That would be the plan." 

"Wow... Well, um, I think there's a little-" 

SMASH! KABOOM! 

An explosion rocked the yard and threw Harriet and the kid to the ground. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, helping her to her feet. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on?" 

"They're attacking." 

Well duh,_ Harriet thought. _

"Don't know why. You hide, got it? Take this key, go in that door and don't come out. Got it?" Harriet took the key and nodded. "GO!" She ran for the door and locked it behind her. Through a crack she saw the kid run in a different direction, then disappear. 

Suddenly, a moblie suit burst out of a derelict building and began retaliating with hundreds of rounds of artillery. Harriet's memory flashed in front of her. She recognized that mobile suit, from the pictures... 

Heavyarms. 

~*~**~*~ 

Trowa stared at the faded picture in his hand. He knew one of the six children in the photograph was himself, and another was Catherine, but the other four were unknown to him. 

He could hear someone calling him, and recognized the voice as Harriet's. Trowa didn't answer. Instead he continued to sit at the desk in his room and study the photograph. 

There was a knock on the door. "Trowa? Are you there?" It was Harriet. 

"Come in," Trowa said emotionlessly. He didn't look up as Harriet came in and stood next to him. 

"I need to talk to you," Harriet said, "about this." She pushed the note across the smooth wood of the desk. 

Trowa read the cut-and-paste message and raised one eyebrow. "Then why are you here?" 

Do you really think I'm one to follow instructions? It doesn't happen, especially with threats," Harriet told Trowa. "Do you have anything to do with this?" 

"No," Trowa replied, shaking his head. "And I don't know anyone who might be." 

"Thanks anyway," Harriet sighed. Then she noticed the photograph. "Where'd you get that?" 

"I've had it since I was little," he answered. "Why?" 

"That girl there," she said, "that's me." 

"What?" 

"That's me," Harriet repeated, "and I have that picture. See?" She pulled an identical photo from her pocket. 

"We... we have the same picture," Trowa murmured. "That means.... this was taken when I was six... Where are you from?" 

"Canada. I'm not from the colonies," she said. There was a long silence. "You're the kid from the yard! I got my Gundanium alloy for RipRock from there." 

"How do you know I was there? That was ages ago," Trowa said. 

"Heavyarms was a dead giveaway. Afterwards I realized, 'Hey, I was talking to a Gundam pilot'," she answered. 

"I wasn't working there, just getting stuff for Heavyarms." 

"Well... I remember that picture being taken," Harriet said. "I rememer moving from colony to colony for about a year or two when I was younger and there were only a few kids I was really friends with... Especially one guy, I can't even remember his name." 

I was kind of a loner too, but..." Suddenlt Trowa's green eyes went wide and he gasped as he stood up. "You... that's _you_. Harriet!" 

Suddenly it was all like a reunion as Trowa and Harriet recognized each other as the childhood friend they'd lost so long ago. A warm hug ensued. 

"Harriet," Trowa asked, "do you remember my real name?" 

"No," she answered. "Would you want me to tell you if I remembered?" 

"I don't think so. It'd be too weird," he said. "But what about this note?" 

"Probably someone just trying to scare me," Harriet said off-handishly. "Doesn't matter now." 


	3. In The Middle Of The Night...

The Flirt Chapter Three 

Three nights later, Harriet had finally managed to fall asleep. That day had been particularly busy, what with running around talking to this person or learning about this subject and then getting into _another_ argument with Wufei (something which had become a daily event), so she was grateful for slumber. This made her unable to hear Quatre's hurried knocking on her door. 

"Harriet! Harriet!!" he hissed. No response. He quietly opened her door and tiptoed to Harriet's bed. "Harriet! Get up!" 

"Wha? Quatre, what is it? I just fell asleep," she mumbled, looking up at the blonde in blue pyjamas who was standing next to her bed. 

"Sorry, but everyone's gone," he said. 

Harriet jolted herself into a sitting position. "What?" 

"They're gone." 

"Well, we gotta go find them!" she exclaimed, leaping out of bed. A glance at the clock revealed that it was 11:25. _Great, the middle of the night_, she thought. Suddenly the red digtal display went black. 

"Wonderful. The power's out," Quatre sighed. 

"We'll have to make do. Come on," Harriet said. 

Harriet and Quatre left her room and started down the hall, unsure of where they were going. 

"Hey! Lemme -- mmph!" Someone had grabbed Harriet from behind with a hand clasped over her mouth. She slammed her foot down on her attacker's and elbowed whoever it was in the stomach, and Harriet was released from their grasp. 

"You okay?" Quatre asked. Harriet nodded. 

"You've got pretty good aim," came from the shadows. 

"Duo????" 

The braided pilot stood up slowly. "That's me," he croaked. 

"Shit, Duo, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you," Harriet apologized. 

"It's okay. I didn't know it was you either," Duo said. 

"Do you know where anyone else is?" Quatre asked. 

"Nope," Duo replied. "We might find Heero downstairs though. That's where I saw him last." 

So the trio made their way down the nearly pitch-black hallway, down the even darker stairs, and to another lightless corridor. 

"Does anyone have a flashlight?" Harriet asked. The unanimous answer was no. "Damn." 

They checked every room and found nobody. "This is getting irritating," Duo grumbled. 

"Yeah..." Harriet agreed. 

_Click._

"What was that?" she whispered, stopping dead in her tracks. 

"What was what?" Quatre asked. 

"Stay right there." The cold monotone of the voice left no doubt that Heero was behind them. "I'll shoot." 

"Heero, it's us," Harriet said. "Harriet, Duo and Quatre." 

Quiet footsteps approched them. "All right." The gun disappeared. "Where's everyone else?" 

"We don't know. That's why we're looking," Duo said. 

Further searching led them to the large hangar-type building where their Gundams were kept. Flashlights were located, and the hunt for Trowa and Wufei continued. 

Finding Wufei proved easier than they thought. Without any indication, Nataku went after them, but stopped abruptly at Harriet. The others had ducked out of the way or were elsewhere at the time, but she stood stock still with the large object mere centimetres away from her face. 

"Wufei? It's us!" she called. The appendage retracted back to its original position and Nataku's cockpit opened. Wufei stumbled out. 

"What are you doing?" he called. 

"We were looking for you," Harriet said. "Have you seen Trowa?" 

"No," Wufei answered. 

Harriet stomped her foot in frustration and bit her lower lip. "He's gone." 

"Well obviously." 

"Don't start Wufei," Harriet warned sternly, glaring at him. "Maybe we should split up. We've been almost everywhere and haven't found Trowa yet." 

"Do you think someone kidnapped him?" Duo asked. 

"Kidnapped? What would their motive be?" Quatre wondered. 

"Maybe it has something to with that note I got," Harriet murmured. 

"The same person might have something unpleasant in store for whoever interferes," Heero commented. 

"Then if we split up we could be in a lot of trouble," Quatre said. 

"Groups then. We can break into groups and split up. As well, someone should stay in one place so we can check in every so often," Harriet decided, suddenly going into Domineering Mode. "That way we'll know when to start worrying." 

"I'll stay," Heero volunteered. 

The pairs ended up being Duo and Quatre, and Wufei and Harriet. Neither of the last two were happy with that arrangement, but said nothing. 

"Check in every hour, got it?" Heero said. "Good. Now get outta here." 

~*~**~*~ 

"You're one of my more quiet hostages." 

"I have nothing to say," Trowa said, glaring at his captor from under his bangs. 

"Most of the people I keep here have lots to say," the dark figure continued. He wore all black and as mask. His voice was distorted by a device for that purpose. "Normally they tell me that I won't get away with this or that their friends will come rescue them. Why are you not the same?" 

"I don't need to say what you've all ready heard," Trowa muttered. He was furtively trying to unbind his hands from the ropes that tied them behind the back of the hard wooden chair he was sitting on. _One of Catherine's knives would be _really_ useful right now,_ he thought. 

"I'm debating on what to do with you right now," Trowa's captor said. "I could kill you, but that would defeat my purpose." 

"What is your purpose?" Trowa asked warily. 

"Well, if you were dead, that Harriet girl wouldn't have a reason to come, would she?" 

Trowa's eyes widened. "Harriet? What do you want with her?" 

"Ah, more talkative now that it concerns a girl, are you?" He laughed. "Maybe revealing my true identity would help." 

"Perhaps," Trowa said sarcastically. 

His captor said, "I could let you hear my voice. You wouldn't recognize it now anyway." 

_Now?_ Trowa thought. _What does he mean by that?_

~*~**~*~ 

"Oh, would you just _shut up_?" 

"Why should I?" 

"_You_ started it!" 

"Then you end it!" 

"I can't _stand_ you!" 

"The feeling's mutual, woman!" 

As expected, less than five minutes into their search, Harriet and Wufei were arguing. Normally their topic was something reasonable, like politics or history, and it was more of a heated debate, but now they were just at each other's throats. How it started was forgotten now. 

"And you know what else I can't stand? How you refer to me!" Harriet said. "I _do_ have a name, Wufei. I wish you'd use it." 

That shut him up. The moments of silence that followed would be golden, until one of them said something... 

"Harriet?" 

"What?" Harriet said, exasperated. 

"I think I've found something," Wufei told her. He knelt down and picked up the object. 

"The picture!" Harriet exclaimed. "That means he must've been here." 

"What?" Wufei didn't understand. 

Harriet showed Wufei her copy of the photograph. "I knew Trowa when we were little. This is the proof. If I still have mine, that means Trowa's been here and he lost his," she explained. 

"So he's been down this way," Wufei confirmed. 

"Yeah..." Harriet checked the time. "We'd better head back. It's almost time to check in." 

~*~**~*~ 

"Anything over there Quatre?" Duo asked. 

"Nope," Quatre replied, "but it's time to check back. Come on." 

"I'm coming." 

Duo and Quatre had found an incredibly messy room that looked like it could use some renovations. They were wary about going in but decided to check it out anyway. 

Duo climbed over an overturned table and made his way through the mess. "Who know they'd let this place get so -- Ahhh!" 

Quatre stopped. "Duo? Duo? Where are you?" He ran back, and skidded to a halt near to where Duo had been. He shone his flashlight around, searching for Duo and calling his name. Nothing.


	4. 

The Flirt: Chapter Four 

Duo hit his head on a wall as he fell, swearing loudly. Standing, he brushed himself off and looked around. It was dark, as expected, and his flahslight provided little illumination. Duo shone the light into every corner and discovered a little hallway, and curiosity got the better of him, so he ventured down the corridor. It seemed to get narrower, darker, and the ceiling got lower as he went along, until there was a little door with a window slot on it. 

He slid the window open to see what was beyond the door. Duo discovered the room was completely lit, and devoid of any furnishings except a table and two chairs. One chair was occupied. Duo strained to see who it was... 

"Trowa!" 

~*~**~*~ 

"They're only five minutes late, calm down," Heero said, not looking up from his computer. 

Harriet was pacing furiously. "A lot can happen in five minutes Heero," she retorted. Obviously, Duo and Quatre had not returned, and Harriet had flown into worry. 

Wufei muttered something derogatory towards Harriet, not intending for her to hear. But she did. He also didn't intend for her to fly into rage. 

"You know what Wufei? I am _sick_ of you being so incredibly rude," she said, "not mention sexist and pigheaded. Do you realise how people see you? And you wonder why I'm always so _angry_ at you!" She seemed to tower over Wufei, and he was backing away slowly. "I am _not_ just a stupid woman Wufei, in fact, I'll bet my IQ is higher than yours! And if it's not a question of intelligence quotient, I still think that _you're_ the stupid one!" 

"Go Harriet," Heero murmured. 

Harriet decided she was finished chewing Wufei out and turned away. "I feel a _lot_ better now," she sighed, smiling and walking towards Heero. Wufei was practically wedged into a corner, his face one of shock. 

"I'm sorry." 

Harriet whirled around. "Pardon?" 

"I'm sorry Harriet," Wufei said. "It's a bad trait I have and I'll try to be better in the future." 

"Aplogy accepted," Harriet said, shaking Wufei's hand. "I hope we can be friends." 

Almost immediately, Quatre ran into the room. 

"Where's Duo?" Wufei asked. 

"I don't know," Quatre breathed. 

"You don't know? Whaddya mean, you don't know?" Harriet shouted. 

"He disappeared when we were on our way back," Quatre explained. "I looked for Duo but I couldn't find him anywhere." 

"Great. Now we're looking for Duo too," Wufei sighed. "Could things get any worse?" 

Harriet tensed up, her arm flew to her left shoulder and a _cling_ was heard. "Yeah, it could," she answered. "I think I was just shot." Closer inspection of her shoulder revealed substanstial bleeding, and on the floor was the bullet. 

"Yup," Heero said matter-of-factly, examinging the projectile. 

"You'd better sit down Harriet," Quatre said. Harriet collapsed to the floor, unconscious. "Or you could fall." Quatre knelt beside her and pressed his hand over the wound. "We should take her to the infirmary." 

Heero closed the laptop and without hesitation picked Harriet up and started out towards the infirmary. There were no words said, no questions asked, and Quatre and Wufei followed. 

Meanwhile, in the shadows, the shooter lurked silently... 

~*~**~*~ 

Heero put Harriet on a bed in the infirmary and set to work. He tossed Quatre a gauze pad. "Keep that on her shoulder," Heero instructed. Quatre pressed it to Harriet's wound and it immediately started absorbing blood. Heero continued looking throught drawers and cupboards for things, and Wufei slunk into a corner to stay out of the way. Where Heero learned what he was doing nobody knew, but he immediately took charge and put Quatre to work as an assistant. 

Heero took the now soaked gauze away and cut open the shoulder of Harriet's shirt. He worked silently and quickly, cleaning the wound and binding it up. "Now she just has to rest," he declared, seemingly admiring his handiwork. "Under no circumstances is she getting up." 

"Yes, Dr. Yuy," Quatre joked. 

"Now what are we going to do about Duo and Trowa?" Wufei asked. 

"Keep looking," Heero said simply. 

"But someone's got to stay here with Harriet," Quatre said. 

"I will." 

Quatre was a little surprised that Heero volunteered. "All right. Wufei, let's go." 

~*~**~*~ 

As far as Duo could tell, Trowa was alone in the room. "Trowa! TROWA!" he called quietly, in case someone was there. 

Trowa's ears picked up on the sound and he lifted his head. "Hm? Duo?" 

"Are you alone?" Duo asked. 

"Yeah." 

Duo tried the door. It opened too easily, and he scrambled through and over to Trowa. "Who's been keeping you here?" Duo asked as he worked on the knots of the rope. 

"I don't know. I think he knows me though. He's been distorting his voice up until a little while ago and he wears a mask," Trowa said. Duo got him free and he stood up. "Much better. Thanks Duo." 

"No problem. Now let's get outta here." Duo and Trowa ran for the little door, crawled through and shut it tightly. They ran along the corridor until they arrived at the room Duo had fallen into. 

"Now what?" Trowa asked. 

"I'm not sure. I landed in here, followed that hall and found you," Duo said. They looked upwards, hoping to find the hole Duo had fallen through. 

"There it is!" Trowa exclaimed. 

"Now how do we get up there?" Duo asked. 

"I think I have an idea..." 

~*~**~*~ 

Harriet blinked slowly. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, but never fully awoken. Now she realized she was in the infirmary and someone was in a chair next to her bed, keeping a close watch. Harriet tried to sit up and she was immediately ordered to lie down. 

"Heero? What the-" 

"You know you were shot," Heero said. "Wufei and Quatre are still looking for Duo and Trowa. You have to rest." 

Harriet didn't object to that. She stared at Heero critically. "You should smile more." 

"What?" 

"Smile for me Heero. Come on, lemme see you smile," she coaxed. 

"I-I-" 

"Are you _afraid_ to smile Heero?" she teased. 

"What is there to smile about?" Heero asked. "Duo and Trowa are missing and you've been shot." 

"Are you ever happy, Heero?" Harriet asked. 

Heero was silent. 

"It taked less muscles to smile than to frown," she said. Nothing. "Hey, remember what I did to Wufei earlier?" Harriet thought she saw the corner of Heero's mouth move up. "Ah ha! Come on Heero, show some teeth, or do I have to re-enact the whole thing? 'I am _not_ just a stupid woman Wufei, in fact, I'll bet my IQ is higher than yours!'" 

Amazingly, Harriet saw Heero's eyes close, his mouth open wide and heard a laugh ring through the room. Not only had she gotten him to smile, he was _laughing_! Heero had found the entire thing hilarious, and now Harriet was laughing along with him. 

Harriet felt great. She'd gotten all the Gundam pilots to open up to her. (Well, she wasn't sure about Wufei, but Harriet knew he'd never change.) That would make finding Trowa a lot easier. 

~*~**~*~ 

"This was where he disappeared," Quatre said, shining his flashlight along the cluttered floor of the room. 

"You hear something?" Wufei asked. 

"No... Wait a sec, yes, I do," he replied. Very faintly the two pilots could hear voices coming from below them. Quatre pressed his ear to the floor. "I think it's Duo." 

"Maxwell! Where are you?" Wufei shouted. 

"Down here!" came the reply. "Trowa's with me!... Hey, watch the hair!" 

Trowa ignored Duo and groped for the edge of the hole. He was standing on Duo's shoulders, the plan being he could get up and find a rope for Duo. It wasn't quite working. "Stop moving Duo." 

"Why aren't _you_ on the bottom?" Duo grumbled. 

"If you were to climb up here I'd make you use your hair as a rope," Trowa threatened. "Stand still." 

Quatre and Wufei found the place where Duo and Trowa were struggling and couldn't help but laugh. "I wish I had a camera," Wufei chuckled. 

"This isn't helping, you guys!" Duo shouted. 

Still laughing, they grabbed Trowa's hands and pulled him up, then somehow managed to get Duo too. "Come on, let's get back before Heero and Harriet start to worry," Quatre said. 


	5. Together Momentarily

The Flirt: Chapter Five 

"Sheesh. This is ridiculous," Duo sighed. "What time is it?" 

"Two fifteen," Quatre replied calmly. 

"This is ridiculous," Duo repeated. 

Quatre stopped suddenly. "Did you guys hear something?" 

"Only Duo," Wufei said, walking straight past Quatre. Trowa and Duo passed him too. 

"I could swear I heard something..." Quatre trailed off, turning around a few times, his eyes narrowing. 

"Quatre, come on," Trowa said. 

The blonde turned around one last time and was met by a blow to the face and the stomach. He flew into a corner and landed with a thud. A tall figure approached him and pointed something resembling a foil at his chest. Quatre forced his eyes open and tried to focus. Recognition passed over his face as he croaked, "It seems you've done it again." 

"Quatre?" 

"Hello Dorothy." 

The foil dropped and Dorothy Catalonia backed away, leaning against the wall as Duo, Trowa and Wufei approached. "I-I-I can explain," she stuttered. "I didn't know-" 

"Dorothy looked pained as she sputtered out an apology. "I'm s-s-sorry, Quatre." 

"We're going back to the infirmary now," Trowa said. "You're free to come along." 

Dorothy followed meekly behind the pilots as they helped Quatre along to the infirmary. Luckily, it wasn't much farther, and Quatre was able to lie down, insisting that was all he needed. 

Heero observed the unceremonious return in his usual quiet. His eyes fell on Dorothy, and Heero raised an eyebrow. "I see you found more than what you were looking for," he commented. Dorothy tried to slink into the shadows. 

Quatre glanced over at where Harriet was fast asleep. "Is she okay?" 

"Yes," Heero replied. "She's been sleeping for a while." 

"So, Trowa," Wufei spoke up harshly, "where have you been?" 

"Someone knocked me out around ten and I woke up in a strange room," Trowa explained. "I don't know who it was, but from what he said I probably should." 

The others looked puzzled at Trowa's words. "You _should_ know? What's that supposed to mean?" Wufei asked. 

"I have no idea." 

"What puzzles me is that there doesn't seem to be anyone else in the building," Quatre said. "There must be what, three hundred students, then add staff... that's a lot of missing people." 

"And if they were kidnapped or, dare I say, killed," Duo added, "why were we left? And Dorothy - what are you doing here?" Dorothy didn't answer. 

"We're Gundam pilots," Heero noted. "All six of us." He glanced momentarily at the still-sleeping Harriet. 

"Harriet has something to do with why I was kidnapped," Trowa said. "The guy said that if I died there would be no reason for her to come find me." 

"Woah woah woah. How could she be involved?" Duo exclaimed. 

"This," Trowa held up the picture and shone a flashlight on it. "That's me, this is Harriet." The others who didn't know of this were dumbfounded. "We were friends a long time ago." 

"That's right," came a sleepy voice. Harriet had woken up. "I have a feeling the culprit is one of the people in that picture."

"But which one? I don't even remember who they all are," Trowa sighed.

"Me neither."

Duo threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "Great. Just great. You two are the only ones who could know anything about these people, and you don't."

"It's not their fault Duo," Quatre said. "Harriet, how are you feeling?"

"A lot better. Heero should be a doctor," she said. Heero made no noticeable reaction except a prolonged stare in Harriet's direction. "What happened to you?"

"Dorothy."

Harriet was puzzled, until Dorothy finally said something. "I'm Dorothy Catalonia. I'm actually not sure why I'm here," she said.

"Hello Dorothy. I'm Harriet Dawson," Harriet replied. "It's unfortunate we couldn't meet under better circumstances."

The boys gave each other strange looks. _How does she do that?_ Wufei wondered. _She goes from almost killing me verbally to Miss Diplomat! _

"Uh, guys…" Harriet started, "what are we going to do now? We're still stuck here, the power's still not back, and there's a creep out there who's obviously armed. What do we do?"

Nobody said anything.

"So we're going to sit here and wait for him to come get us? Wise choice. Very wise." The sarcasm was ominous. "I say we go out there and find him. He probably has something to do with Trowa's kidnapping. We should search the entire building, locate this guy and-"

"Mission accepted," Heero decided. "But you're not going."

"Heero-"

"You're not going. Trowa isn't either."

"What?"

"You two are the immediate targets and we can't risk anything happening to either of you," Heero explained. "The rest of us will go. Quatre, you'd better be up to it. Dorothy… do what you want, just make yourself useful." Heero's gun appeared out of nowhere, as usual, and he headed for the door. He turned around when he reached it, raising an eyebrow as if to say, "Coming or not?" 

Quatre slowly got off the bed and stood, feeling much better. He, Duo and Wufei followed Heero out the door. All four were ready for… whoever it was.

~*~**~*~ 

**'Kay, I know it's short, but bear with me...**


	6. Revelation

The Flirt: Chapter Six

The Flirt: Chapter Six

Harriet's boredom was increasing. She wanted desperately to be out there, trying to figure out what was going on, instead of being stuck in the infirmary with Quatre, who had returned a while ago. The blonde pilot was also beginning to get irritated with being idle, and worried that he and his companion would be at each other's throats before too long.

"Go fish," Quatre mumbled for the millionth time that night.

Sighing, Harriet picked up another card. "Got what I wanted. Have any sevens?"

Quatre passed Harriet the card. "You know, when you've been playing for an hour and a half, and losing for an hour and a half, this game gets really boring," he said.

Harriet forced a smile. "Even when you're winning it gets boring," she told him. "Queens?"

He shook his head and gave up his only Queen. "You have to be cheating."

She laughed. "Never. Fours?"

"Go fish," Quatre said again. Harriet picked up. "Any nines?"

"Yeah," she admitted, giving Quatre the nine. A funny look crossed her face. 

Quatre noticed this after he put down his nines. "What is it?" 

"Someone's here," she murmured. Harriet put her cards face down and stood. 

Quatre did the same. "How can you tell?"

"Harriet always could smell a rat," a deep voice answered.

"And you're the biggest rat of them all," Harriet said, "Dad."

~*~**~*~

"Heero, must you shoot everything that moves?" Wufei asked exasperatedly.

In response, Heero gave Wufei his usual glare as he reloaded his gun, as if to say, "Of course." So far, his victims had been two desks, a door, several windows, and numerous other objects that he hadn't bothered to identify. 

"Aww, lighten up Wufei," Duo said. "It could be worse."

"Keep it and you're next," Heero said, not even glancing at Duo.

Trowa couldn't help but smirk. However strange their group was, they were his friends. Trowa was mulling over this thought when a hand clamped onto his arm. "Hey!"

Heero whipped around and pointed the gun into the darkness. "Freeze."

Yanking his arm from the stranger's grasp, Trowa stumbled back to where the other three pilots stood. Duo shone his flashlight in that direction.

"Causing trouble again, Dorothy?" Wufei asked sarcastically.

Duo sighed. "I thought you were staying with Harriet."

"I couldn't- I wasn't- He said…" Dorothy stammered.

"Who's 'he'?" Wufei asked.

"Mr. Dawson," Dorothy replied.

"Who?" Duo wondered.

"Harriet's dad," Trowa said suddenly, before taking off down the corridor.

"Is he right?" Heero asked.

"I think so," Dorothy said. 

Heero frowned. Wordlessly as usual, he left. The others followed him back to the infirmary, where Harriet was yelling insanely at a tall man in dark clothing who resembled the girl strongly. 

"I'm not your little girl anymore!" Harriet shouted. "Why do you think you can come out here and screw everything up for me? What makes you think you can kidnap my friends and put all of us in danger? If anything that's only going to keep my away longer!"

__

Click. Harriet looked past her father to see Heero with his gun pointed at him in a classic scene. Alongside him were the others and hanging in the back, Dorothy. Dawson turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"I don't believe you've been introduced," Harriet said airily. "Guys, this is my father. Dad, I suggest you say something before Heero pulls the trigger."

"Quite a varied group of friends you have here," Dawson said. 

Duo smirked. "That's an understatement."

"Perhaps you would like to explain what you and your accomplice," Wufei said, "are doing here, and where everyone else has gone."

Dawson ignored Wufei and his eyes fell on Trowa. "Ah, what an escape you and _ton ami idiot_ had, my nephew," he said.

Trowa paled as Duo exclaimed, "What'd he say?"

"Trowa's stupid friend," Harriet said, translating the French. 

"Woah, wait a second, nephew?" Quatre said. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah Dad. Trowa's not my cousin… is he?" Harriet asked.

"Indeed he is," Dawson said. "I may not have seen him in many years, but I would recognize his mother's eyes anywhere." He left a deliberate dramatic silence before saying, "My sister was a wonderful woman."

"What happened to her?" Trowa asked quietly.

"She died, an innocent victim in these useless wars," Dawson answered bitterly.

"Dad's a strict pacifist," Harriet pointed out.

"As I expected my family to be," Dawson said loudly, looking sternly at his unfazed daughter. "That goes for you too Triton Bloom."

"That's not my name," Trowa said stubbornly, going into the standard response for when being questioned about his name. "I have no name. If you must, call me Trowa." 

"As you wish."

"I think you need to explain some more, Dad," Harriet muttered.

Dawson looked at his daughter critically. "My sister adored her children," he said. "That would be you, Trowa, and Catherine." He seemed to speak the name Trowa with a touch of distaste. "She wanted you two to grow up and be successful and peaceful – never fighters." Harriet rolled her eyes. "I, of course, wanted the same, as did our entire family. Before you were born, your mother and father moved to L3. When you were six, she was killed as a bystander in some of the early riots leading up to this war. My family then went to L3 to be with you, Catherine and your father." Trowa hung his head, a glint of sadness in his eyes. "Naturally, your father would have been heartbroken," Dawson continued. "He disappeared a year later. We never found him again.

"Catherine joined the circus when she was eleven. You came to live with us, but you kept trying to run away. Eventually, you succeeded. That must've been when you joined those damned mercenary troops and this whole fiasco began," he finished.

Trowa sighed. Harriet put on her pissed look. Everyone else looked incredibly confused. 

"How long did you keep looking for him?" Quatre asked. 

"We never stopped," Dawson replied. "When Harriet decided to take off out here, of course I didn't want her to go. Later I realized she could lead me straight to my long-lost nephew. And so here we are."

Silence engulfed the group as different expressions (or lack of expression) crossed their faces. Duo narrowed his eyes, looked thoughtful, then walked up to Dawson and looked him in the eye. 

"Whaddya mean, 'Trowa's stupid friend'?" he said, obviously insulted by the comment. 

"Exactly what I said."

"Really then?" Duo said. "Which one of us did you mean?"

"You," he muttered, before landing a well-placed right hook on Duo's face. In an instant, five guns were pointed at him. 

"You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us," Harriet declared. Not moving the revolver from its aim at her father, she turned to Duo. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said, "thanks." And his gun joined those aimed at Harriet's father.

"Explain where the other students and the staff went," Heero ordered.

Dawson looked puzzled. "Today's a holiday. I knew that most likely you could still be here, making this the perfect time for my plan," he replied. "Didn't you know?"

Now it was the pilots' turn to be confused. Shaking it off, Wufei said, "Never mind. Why is Dorothy here?"

"She was the only one who could lead me to the school without you knowing. Dorothy was a very useful accomplice," Dawson said, looking pleased.

"Dad," Harriet said, "get out."

"What?"

"Go. Get out. I don't want to see you again," she said darkly, taking a step so the barrel of her gun was directly in line with Dawson's neck.

"And if I don't?" he taunted.

Harriet took a deep breath and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Heero. He nodded. "I'll kill you," came clearly from her lips, nothing wavering, nothing trembling.

"Excuse me?"

"I _said_, I'll kill you," she repeated.

Heero seemed to smile, maybe even proudly. "We wouldn't hesitate to assist," he added. The others nodded in agreement.

"Go," Harriet repeated softly.


	7. Epilogue

The Flirt: Epilogue

The Flirt: Epilogue

__

Three Weeks Later

Harriet stuffed her backpack alongside the seat of her Gundam and checked some controls before descending to the ground. "Well, RipRock, we're off again," she said quietly, putting her hand on its Gundanium leg. Her father had made a wise choice and left, gone back to Canada, deciding to leave his daughter and nephew alone permanently. Smiling, she headed to the dining hall, where Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Duo and Heero were sitting at the usual table. 

"Hey, not just anyone can sit here," Duo joked, referring to the empty chair across from him.

Harriet suavely replied, "I like to think I'm somebody," and sat down, next to Quatre. "So what's for breakfast?"

"School food," Wufei said, somewhat sickened by the poor excuse for cuisine in front of him. Heero looked like he was going to kill the cook. Duo jammed his spoon into what was supposed to be oatmeal and struggling to remove it from the grey-brown glop. Trowa merely stared at it. Quatre looked like he was going to try to eat it and try to like it.

Harriet laughed at the boys. "Come on," she said, "we're going out."

"What?" Quatre exclaimed. 

"For breakfast. My treat. Let's go," she said, standing again. "Come on!"

After dragging them to a restaurant, Harriet led the other pilots towards the hangar for their Gundams. 

"What's all this for?" Heero asked.

"I'm leaving," Harriet replied, standing in front of RipRock.

"Leaving?!" was the shocked, unanimous outburst. 

"Where will you go?" Quatre inquired.

"Wherever I feel like going," she answered, shrugging. "Or maybe I'll keep flying until I run out of fuel. Who knows?"

"Will you come back?" Duo questioned.

"Maybe, maybe not," she said. "It depends on if I'm welcome back."

"You're always welcome!" Quatre exclaimed. "How could we think otherwise?"

Harriet smiled. "Right. Of course." She accepted a hug from her friend. 

"Maybe we'll blow some mobile dolls together sometime soon, huh?" Duo suggested. 

"You bet," she agreed, hugging Duo too. "And Chang Wufei…"

"Don't say it," Wufei said.

Harriet shook his hand. "Alright then." She turned to Heero. "I'll practice saying _omae o korosu_, 'kay?"

Heero tried stifling a laugh as his hand took Harriet's. "Until it's perfect."

Harriet laid her other hand on Heero's shoulder for a moment before going to Trowa. "Well, cousin, I trust you won't be at the next family reunion?" Trowa looked confused. "I know I sure as hell won't."

Trowa smiled a little and embraced his cousin. "Goodbye Harriet," he said quietly.

"Not goodbye," Harriet said, "just see you later." She acknowledged the five pilots again as she got up to the cockpit, and they quickly moved out of RipRock's way. 

"Okay RipRock," she said, pushing buttons and setting controls, "say farewell."

As she ascended into the air, Harriet looked down to see five large mobile suits waving. Smiling, she returned the action to Wing Zero, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock and Shenlong before putting the thrusters onto full speed and shooting off into the morning sky.

The End


End file.
